With Every Breath (Slow Burn 4)

She stared at the phone laying next to the sink, a sense of dread settling into the pit of her stomach. Wade had now been gone thirty-five minutes. It was too soon to be hearing from him or any of her guys on surveillance. What if something had gone terribly wrong?

Then realizing she was standing there staring while the phone continued to ring, she lunged for it, not even checking to see who the incoming call was from.

“Hello?” she said, her voice trembling.

“Hello my darling. It’s been far too long since I last heard your voice. I’ve missed it.”

Eliza felt the blood drain rapidly from her face and she felt blindly for one of the barstools behind her, sinking down before her knees buckled and gave out.

“Thomas,” she whispered.

Something wasn’t right. Something was very, very wrong. Dane had called Wade because they’d tagged Thomas and had the residence he was staying in or at least using surrounded and were only waiting for Wade’s arrival before they went in to take Thomas out.

If all of that was so, then how on earth was he on the phone with her and how had he gotten her number?

Or maybe he was calling her from the house Dane and his team were watching. If Wade hadn’t yet arrived or if they simply hadn’t swarmed in and apprehended Thomas then all she had to do was keep him talking, distracted, so it would make Wade’s and Dane’s jobs that much easier.

“I was very disappointed that you didn’t stay to see me after the press conference ended,” Thomas said, annoyance vibrating his voice.

“They hate me,” Eliza said, tempering her voice so she sounded more like the meek, obedient teenager he once knew and nothing like a highly trained security specialist who kicked people’s asses for a living. Trying to sound embarrassed and even sad, she said, “I had to leave while they were absorbed in your wonderful speech. It was risky for me to even go. They’ve made no secret of their hatred and disdain for me since I returned. But I had to see you, Thomas. I had to be there to see you when you were released. I wanted to reassure myself that you were well.”

“I’ve already chosen my next victim,” he said as casually as if they were discussing the weather and completely ignoring or dismissing her response.

She went completely still, her heart thudding painfully against the wall of her chest. She gripped the phone so tightly that her fingertips were as bloodless as her face.

“She’s here with me now,” he continued in a cheerful voice. “You can save her, you know.”

“H-How?”

Eliza began to fervently pray that Thomas was where Dane thought him to be and that at any moment, they would bust in, take Thomas down and save the woman from certain death.

“I’ll trade her for you,” Thomas said, his tone suddenly going completely serious. “All you have to do is come to me and I’ll let her go. I give you my word.”

She wanted to scream at him, to unleash her fury and hatred and wish him to hell. But she couldn’t do anything to risk his ire. If he killed yet another woman because of Eliza, she would well and truly lose her sanity.

“Where?” Eliza choked out. “Tell me where and I’ll come immediately. And, Thomas, if you hurt that woman, I’ll never forgive you.” She injected hurt into her voice, hopefully masking the rage and hatred that boiled and burned like acid in her veins. “I had hoped you had changed during your time in prison,” she added quietly. “That’s why I came. Because I wanted my Thomas back. I can forgive you the past if you swear you’ll never hurt another woman.

“I’m yours, Thomas. I’ve always been yours. But you betrayed me and you hurt me. I need to know I can love you and trust you again. So promise me.”

Thomas was silent but she’d heard his sudden intake of breath, as if she’d completely surprised him and he hadn’t expected her to say any of what she’d said to him.

“I’m sorry, my darling girl,” Thomas said, his tone becoming loving and even contrite. “Please say you’ll come. I’ve changed. I swear to you I have and I’ll make it up to you. I never meant to hurt you. You were the one person I would have never hurt, Melissa. Come to me and I’ll let the woman go. I promise. She means nothing to me but you are my world. You and I will leave this place and go somewhere far away where we can start over. We’ll have a new beginning and be together forever as we were meant to be.”

Eliza shivered because his statement though earnestly voiced sounded ominous and threatening.

“Where?” she asked again, because trepidation had firmly set in along with a sense of impending doom. It had been too long and wherever Dane and Wade were, Thomas was not, which meant Thomas had likely made one of the DSS agents.

“I’ll text you the address,” he said smoothly. “Get here soon, Melissa. I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“I need a few minutes before I leave,” she said softly. “I want to look nice for you, Thomas. I’m in my nightshirt.”

“You have half an hour.”

The call went dead as he abruptly ended it. Panic and despair hit her like a tidal wave. She stumbled to her feet, barely able to make it into the bedroom. Oh God, she had so little time and she had no idea what she was walking into.

She grabbed clothing from one of the drawers and then selected what weapons she could. Only a few were small enough to be undetectable with what she’d chosen to wear. She slipped them into place and raced back to the kitchen. She couldn’t just take off without leaving Wade a way to find her. Thomas knew more than he was letting on. He’d purposely not given her the address over the phone and had set a time limit that gave her next to no time to do anything but make the drive and she had to figure out how to get past Wade’s men without them knowing.

Helplessness gripped her. She couldn’t call Wade and tell him the situation because if she did, he’d have his men lock her down so fast she wouldn’t know what hit her and then an innocent woman would die. There was no guessing or ifs, ands or buts about it. Thomas had proven many times over that killing was second nature to him. He got off on it, thrived on it.

All she could do was write notes to Wade. And to Dane, just in case she didn’t make it out alive. And then she had to get the hell over to wherever Thomas was holding his victim and pray that Wade would find her in time.